The Essential Brush Collection: Wayne Goss Anniversary Set

 The Wayne Goss Anniversary Set celebrates the two-year mark of make-up artist Wayne Goss' brush line with Beautylish. The Anniversary Set is a play on the original Collection with a newly designed limited edition Brush 01 and a newly designed permanent Brush 05. The set was released in October 2015 and sold on Beautylish.com at $225 for a limited time. Unfortunately it is no longer available. Beautylish's customer service is always stellar, with free 2-day shipping with orders over $35 and phenomenal packaging.

 The set came in a well-made cosmetics pouch, which is actually rather large; it's probably about the size of half a standard pillow. The brushes themselves came in a cylinder canister which is high-quality enough to keep if wanted, but the lid does not go back down easily. The lid is too perfect a fit for the body of the canister that sometimes it may even seem too small. Each brush came individually packaged in plastic. 

Brushes from the Anniversary Set are adorned with pink lettering instead of the typical grey 'wayne goss' stamp. The ferrules and handles match a perfect, sleek black with an ideal handle length. At first I wasn't impressed by the bulk of the new Brush 01 but upon application I found it to be sturdy and provided much more leverage. 

Wayne Goss brushes are all hand-made with natural, no-cut bristles in Kumano, Japan and has remained a cruelty-free brand since the beginning.

Brush 01 for the Anniversary Set is much larger than the original 01. Because of the difference in size, the ferrule and handle are also much larger. If you've experienced the 01 before, then you'll find the limited edition version to be even more favorable. The bristles are longer than the original 01, but still provides the same performance in less time.

In all honesty, I have a love-hate relationship with the 01 brush, both of them. While it gives the most amazing result, it does require a bit of work. Because of the nature of the brush, it can cause streaks in foundation depending on the motions you use. I find using downward motions first, then going back in in circular motions work best for me. In instances where that does not work, I stipple the areas with streaks. Despite the streaking issue, it is a beautiful brush and will give you the most flawless complexion. 

Brush 02 is no different from the original 02, except for the pink lettering. It is an essential brush in my personal collection. My favorite ways to use it is to set my undereyes and contour my face, excluding my nose.

Brush 03 is like a miniature version of 02. It can be used for concealer or eyeshadow. I typically use it for eyeshadow because of its tapered aspect but I feel it would be better used on the face. I find that it is extremely tapered and the way it moves can feel stiff, as if it's too dense in the center, if that makes any sense. 

Brush 04 is similar to 03 but not as harshly tapered. I feel like I have more control with shadows when using this brush. It distributes and blends eyeshadow beautifully without overdoing it. The size of it also makes it ideal for nose contouring.

Brush 05 was redesigned during the making of this set and is now sold separately as the new design. 05 is a small brush with a beautiful point, which makes it ideal for smoking out liner, creating cut-crease looks, or applying shadow in specific areas like the tearducts. 05 is by far one of my favorite brushes because of its size and ease of control.

Brush 06 is an all-over shadow brush. It is extremely soft and deposits pigments entirely and softly, leaving little to no residue on the brush. It also blends out shadows rather easily. 

Brush 07 is a small, stiff, flat brush. I also enjoy using this one for cut-creases or gel liners. Wayne says you can also use this for lipstick because of its size. 

Brush 08 is by far my favorite brush. It's a small, stiff, stout brush used specifically for tightlining the eyes. It may sound like a silly idea but it's won a place in my mental list of my essential brushes because of how useful it is. Because of the small size I do find that liner will harden on it, so to help that I use micellar water on a napkin to wipe it off after using it.

Brush 01 redesigned (top) compared to Brush 01 original (bottom)

Since the brushes are all handmade, there will be slight variation in the shape of the brushes.

Brush 08

Overall the Wayne Goss Anniversary Set really hit home for me. I use more than one of these brushes every time I put on make-up and I am not disappointed. Unfortunately the set is sold out, but the original Collection is a permanent item, the only major difference being the size of Brush 01. I highly recommend Wayne Goss brushes in general and purchasing the Anniversary Set was well-worth it.